Farewell My Lovely (1975)

Set in 1941 Los Angeles, a private detective (Robert Mitchum) is hired by a hulking ex-convict (Jack O'Halloran) fresh out of prison to find his missing girlfriend. It seems like a simple enough case but when people start turning up dead all over the place, it's clear that there's more here than meets the eye. Based on the 1940 Raymond Chandler novel which was previously filmed in 1944 under the title MURDER MY SWEET. Neo noir this may be and in color but it's a near perfect genre piece that holds its own with the better B&W noirs of the 1940s and 50s. The weary looking Mitchum makes for a perfect Philip Marlowe and the rest of the cast is right behind him. Charlotte Rampling makes for a classic femme fatale, John Ireland for a hard nosed cop and everyone else down the line, too. This isn't a revisionist look that sets the genre on its ear like Altman's THE LONG GOODBYE, it's the real deal.  John A. Alonzo's cinematography is a thing of beauty, the period milieu is superb (kudos to Dean Tavoularis' production design) and an excellent score by David Shire. Directed by Dick Richards. With Sylvia Miles (in an Oscar nominated performance), Harry Dean Stanton, Anthony Zerbe, Kate Murtagh and in one of his earliest roles, Sylvester Stallone.